Italy has a National Health Scheme which means that all residents, whether citizen or not, have access to medical assistance. Under this scheme a free doctor is assigned to each resident (paid by the NHS). The so called “family doctor” meets the patient's initial requirements by visiting and prescbribing medicines, treatments and in-depth further examinations. The Doctor will also decide if the patient needs a specialist visit, particulat tests or a recovery in a hospital.

Theoretically this service is 100% free to residents. In order to avoid people taking advantage of the system, special tickets are applied which means that for every test or specialist's visit, the patient has to pay a small sum. Similarly hospital recovery has a per day charge (quite low, usually lower than the cost of meals). In the case of children up to 12 years of age or people  above 65, tickets are not applied.
 
As to medicines, they are divided into three or four classes. Medicines used in threating chronical diseases are free. Others may have a small ticktes (seldom over €2,00). However certain medical products like eye drops, ointments etc. are fully charged to the patient.

Sometimes using the National Health Scheme also means cueing up and having to wait for weeks or months. Some private structures now offer services that are paid by the government (same as above).

In italian the NHS is called Sistema Sanitario Nazionale - S.S.N.